Synchrotron radiation and prospects of its applications

Current and prospective applications are described of synchrotron radiation resulting from the motion of high-energy electrons or positrons in a magnetic field and covering a wide spectral range from the infrared to X-ray. The advantages of the synchrotron radiation include a big source luminance, a small angular divergence, the possibility of calculating the absolute intensity and the spectral distribution of the radiation. Special storage rings are most suitable as a source. Synchrotron radiation is applied in X-ray microscopy, energy diffractometry, atomic and molecular spectroscopy, in the structural analysis of microcrystals, very rapid diffractometry of biological objects and crystals, and in Moessbauer spectroscopy. The prospective applications include uses in metrology, medicine, X-ray lithography, elemental analysis, molecular microsurgery, and in radiation technology. (Ha)